TiO2-High Surface Area Materials Based Composite Photocatalytic Nanomaterials for Degradation of Pollutants: A Review

TiO2-High Surface Area Materials Based Composite Photocatalytic Nanomaterials for Degradation of Pollutants: A Review

M. Thomas, T.S. Natarajan

Heterogeneous TiO2 semiconductor based photocatalytic process is widely recognized oxidation technology for degradation of pollutants which completely converts the pollutants into water, carbon dioxide and inorganic compounds as compared to other conventional treatment technologies. The photocatalyst properties, reaction operational parameters and the lifetime of photogenerated electron hole pairs possess considerable influence in the degradation efficiency. The degradation reaction comprises of adsorption of pollutants onto the catalyst surface followed by reaction on the catalyst surface and desorption of degraded pollutants from the surface. Thus, the adsorption of pollutants is one of the important parameters for enriching the degradation efficiency which associates with the surface area of the photocatalysts. However, in some cases surface area did not favor the degradation efficiency in which the lifetime of the charge carriers improves the degradation efficiency. Herein, we aim to review on different TiO2-high surface area materials based composite photocatalysts, different synthesis methodologies and their degradation efficiency.